


Root Cause Analysis

by proleptic_fancy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:18:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7889524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proleptic_fancy/pseuds/proleptic_fancy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She has a lot of time on her hands to think about confounding variables, after they've caught her.</p>
<p>  <strike>...At least he was cute.</strike></p>
            </blockquote>





	Root Cause Analysis

Katie knew better. She really did. The first rule of sneaking into the country's premier military academy was that you kept your head down and under no circumstances went _toward_ the weird clattering noise down the hall in the middle of the night. Especially if it was coming from the room where they kept all the classified mission reports you were trying to steal copies of. Like, that was Treason 101: if somebody's already in there, come back and try again another day.

And yet there she was, creeping closer to the door to get a better look at the lock. Somebody had forced it open, leaving a large gouge in the metal below. She wrinkled her nose—it's not like it was even hard to override the security protocols. There was no need to go around hammering at it like a _savage_.

Still, this was where she needed to be, and even though she couldn't hear any sign that this interloper had been detected, there wouldn't be much time. She slipped inside, laptop already pulled halfway out of her bag when something rushed out from the dark and pushed her hard into the wall, clamping a hand over her mouth as if she'd be stupid enough to scream.

It was a boy. One she'd never seen before, and judging by the distinct lack of uniform and the ridiculous bandito handkerchief covering most of his face, he had just as much of a right to be here as she did.

"Don't say anything," he said, voice low and rough, as if he hadn't used it in some time.

For an uncomfortable moment, she was very aware that he was standing close enough for her to smell the dust on his clothes, and that despite the desperation in his wide eyes, they were actually kinda pretty. She buried that thought— _so_ not the time for that kind of distraction.

"You didn't see me here, and I didn't see you. Understand?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to figure out some way to communicate that no, she would very much like to know what the hell he was doing here and why he'd had to go and make this so much harder for the next time by breaking down doors and making such a racket. When he didn't seem to pick up on the message, she slumped her shoulders in defeat and nodded. Probably not as satisfying as biting him would have been, but at least that way he'd let her go and this wouldn't be a complete disaster.

He took a step back, keeping his hand in place. 

"I'll make some noise on my way out," he said, and his expression softened, at least, what little she could see of it. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

And then he was gone, footsteps disappearing down the corridor in a sprint. Thanks, mystery weirdo, Katie thought to herself as she ducked away from the wall and behind the nearest terminal. She'd dwell on it later: why he'd been there at all, what his smile looked like underneath the makeshift mask, the way his skin might have tasted if she'd indulged her most contrary instincts. Now, though, there was work to be done.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as comment-fic for FFA.


End file.
